Even though there are many motivations to use social media, in the last three years there has been a new tendency towards passive networking. People spent two hours daily social networking and messaging, but they do not necessarily share their opinions or personal information in those platforms.
According to a study from GlobalWebIndex, almost 40 percent of Internet users mostly use social platforms on their free time or to catch up with news and current events.
This tweet shows how people got to know the news about Clinton’s pneumonia and dehydration that caused her to leave the 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York.
One of the many reasons why social media is important: you now know what a network censors. Like a presidential candidate collapsing.
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) September 11, 2016
On the other hand, only 20 percent engage in those platforms to share their opinion or personal information.
This girl is giving her opinion on what other people talk about Sept. 11th memorial through social media:
this is EXACTLY why I hate social media. 9/11 isn't something anyone should be making jokes about. people are so insensitive it's sickening
— alecia (@aleciacone) September 12, 2016
People are more engaged in applications such as Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat rather than Twitter and Facebook. However, it is evident that the way people engage in the platform is strongly related to their age. According to comSore, people between the ages of 18-24 are mostly engage in Snapchat (45%), Vine (28%) and Tumbler (28%). Meanwhile, those under the age of 45-54 are mostly engaged in Facebook (18%), Google+ (18%) and Linkedin (18%).
As a result, it is clearly shown that the way people use social media is constantly changing. However, this doesn’t mean that it will stop being the fastest way to instantly connect people with each other.